Mark Taimanov, a Jewish chess grandmaster, died on Nov. 28 at age 90.

Taimanov famously was ostracized by the Soviet authorities after losing to American Bobby Fischer during the Cold War.

Taimanov became a chess grandmaster at 26, kicking off a career that flourished in the 1950s and ’60s.

In 1956, he became the Soviet champion, but was best known for his stinging 6-0 loss to American grandmaster Fischer in 1971 at a World Championship Candidates match.

Soviet authorities punished Taimanov for the embarrassing failure, suspecting he had lost on purpose. They stripped him of his titles and forbade him from going abroad for 18 months. — j. wire reports